Woe to him that buildeth a town with blood, and stablisheth a city by iniquity! -Habbakuk 2:12

Thursday, October 06, 2005

urgent - a memo from Appalachian Voices

VERY URGENT – Appalachian Voices has just learned that the US House of Representatives will vote on FRIDAY, October 7, on a bill that will gut key provisions of the our federal clean air protections. The bill, called the “Gasoline for America’s Security Act” (H.R. 3893), would eliminate a critical part of the Clean Air Act, called new source review, that requires utilities to install new pollution control equipment when they make significant upgrades to coal-fired power plants.

No matter where you live, PLEASE CALL YOUR REPRESENTATIVE IMMEDIATELY, by noon on Friday if at all possible, and ask them to vote no on this bill. To find your Representative and his or her phone number, go to this website and type in your zip code: http://www.congress.org/congressorg/home/

We have also learned that the utilities are heavily targeting US Representatives from North Carolina in their lobbying efforts, so it is especially important for our supporters in North Carolina to contact their US Representative.

In April, 80% of the members of North Carolina’s state legislature signed a letter calling on the state’s US Representatives and Senators to oppose any rollbacks of the Clean Air Act. Click here for more information: http://www.appvoices.org/air/ncgaletter.asp

In addition, a number of towns, counties and cities across North Carolina have adopted resolutions asking the delegation to oppose any rollbacks of the Clean Air Act. If you live in or near one of these localities, be sure to mention the resolution to your Representative:

- Watauga County- Alexander County- Haywood County- City of Asheville (Buncombe County)- City of Hickory (Catawba County)- City of Boone (Watauga County)- Town of Sparta (Allegheny County)- Town of Taylorsville (Alexander County)- Town of Seven Devils (Avery County)

The “Gasoline for America’s Security Act,” is just a new and opportunistic way to package the same old proposals designed to weaken the Clean Air Act that have been promoted by big polluting power companies in Congress for the last three years. It is bad for North Carolina, the Appalachian Mountains, and the nation.